When a business wishes to acquire a product or service from a supplier, the business will often generate a request for quote (RFQ) that details the various requirements the business has regarding the desired product or service. For example, an RFQ may include an identifier of the desired product (such as a part number or the part numbers of the components of the product), a desired price and quantity, and a location to which the product is to be shipped. The business sends the RFQ to one or more suppliers and the suppliers may then bid or otherwise respond to the RFQ. RFQs are used in a broad and diverse range of industries and within each of these industries a variety of different types of RFQs are used to fulfill various purchasing and servicing needs. The actual details of how each of these RFQs are generated and communicated between a business and a supplier may vary significantly depending on the nature of the product or service for which a quote is requested, the size and type of purchaser or supplier, the type of industry, and many other factors. As a result, RFQ engines that are designed to generate and communicate RFQs for a specific industry can often not be used by businesses in other industries. Alternatively, generic RFQ engines that are designed to apply to a number of industries are often too simplistic to fulfill a business' needs and may cause the business to resort to other methods (such as telephone, email, or fax communications) to complete an RFQ transaction.